Lubbock Monterey girls basketball coach Jill Rankin Schneider announces retirement on heels of state championship

Hall of Fame coach who helped guide No. 1 recruit Aaliyah Chavez during high school career steps away after 27 years with Lady Plainsmen

Lubbock Monterey Head Coach Jill Schneider celebrates the team's 64-35 Texas UIL 5A Division 2 State Championship victory over Liberty Hill at The Alamodome in San Antonio, March 1, 2025. / Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

When the Lubbock Monterey Lady Plainsmen walked off the basketball court as state champions on March 1, 2025, they knew it would be the last time they’d see their seniors walking off the floor. That included the Class 5A-II finals MVP, and No. 1 women’s recruit in 2025, Aaliyah Chavez.

But some probably didn’t expect legendary coach and Texas high school basketball Hall of Famer Jill Rankin Schneider to follow.

According to Pete Christy of the Lubbock Plains-Dealer, after nearly three decades at the helm Schneider announced her resignation as girls basketball coach at Monterey and announced her retirement, effective April 1.

Breaking News: After leading the Monterey Lady Plainsmen to their first State Basketball Championship since 1981, Jill Schneider has resigned from her position as Head Basketball Coach and she will retire on August 1st.

Schneider wraps up a 27 year run with the Lady Plainsmen. pic.twitter.com/ictAa7HNV1

— Pete Christy (@pchristy11) April 7, 2025

Schneider spent 27 years at Monterey, finally capturing a championship in her swan song. After a legendary career as both a player and a coach, she is one of the rare ones who will get to end it on top and on her own terms.

As a player, Jill Rankin was one of the country’s finest women’s players. She split playing time in college at Wayland Baptist College (1978-79) and Tennessee (1979-1980), where she was named Kodak All-American and Wade Trophy finalist at both schools.

While at Tennessee she was named MVP of the SEC Tournament in 1980 and was named the program’s overall Lady Vol MVP.

Lubbock Monterey girls basketball coach Jill Schneider instructs her team against Coronado in a District 3-5A game Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, at Monterey High School. / Stephen Garcia/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

She won a gold medal in Korea at the 1979 World Championships, and a silver medal in Puerto Rico at the Pan Am Championships that same year. Following a dominant season at Tennessee in 1980, she was named co-captain of the 1980 U.S. Women’s Olympic Team.

Unfortunately, there would be no medal that season as the United States boycotted the games in protest to Moscow's involvement.

Once her playing career was clearly behind her, Rankin turned to a new career in coaching and has been giving back to the game since. After stints as an assistant at both Tennessee and Texas, where she spent five years, she turned to the high school ranks in 1986.

Safe to say, it worked out.

Monterey's head girls basketball coach Jill Schneider, left, hugs Jaelyn Morrison after the team's win against Amarillo High in the Region I-5A girls basketball quarterfinal game, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, at Wildcat Gymnasium in Littlefield. / Annie Rice/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

The last four years of her career were spent coaching one of the best statistical high school girls players in history, and the last season of her career featured a 37-5 record and the school’s first state championship in four decades.

There was plenty of success in between, of course, and Schneider coached some fantastic players throughout her nearly 40-year career.

Schneider is hardly leaving a bare cupboard for the next coach. The Lady Plainsmen will return several holdovers from this season’s championship team, including Ambrosia Cole, Ari Johnson and Zaniyah Wilkerson, who will all be seniors, and Aaliyah Luna, who will be a junior.

Monterey head girls basketball coach Jill Schneider speaks to Aaliyah Chavez between periods during the Class 5A Division II state championship girls basketball game on Saturday, March 1, 2025, at The Alamodome in San Antonio. / Angela Piazza/USA Today Network via Caller-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

This season Cole averaged 18.6 points per game – second on the team to Chavez – and Johnson was third on the team with 11.9 points per game.

There’s no question that after nearly three decades at the helm, Schneider walked away from Lubbock Monterey leaving the Lady Plainsmen program better than it was when she found it.

For a player like Jill Rankin, and a coach like Jill Schneider, there may be no greater compliment.

Lubbock Monterey, coach Jill Schneider (back row, center) poses with her team for a photo after the Lady Plainsmen's 64-35 Texas UIL 5A-II State Championship victory over Liberty Hill at The Alamodome in San Antonio, March 1, 2025. / Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images